Taking a jibe at the Congress, which formally launched its campaign for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections with the slogan ’27 Saal UP Behaal’, the Samajwadi Party on Saturday said that such gimmicks would not work while asking the grand old party to first give an account of what they did for the nation in the last 60 years.

“The Congress Party was there in power at the Centre for 60 years. During that time, they deteriorated the condition of our country. From other parties, they are now asking for the amount of work done. But they never give an account of what they did in the 60 years when they were in power,” Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary further said no development took place in Uttar Pradesh during the Congress’ regime in the state. “It was there in power in Uttar Pradesh for most of the time except for 27 years. No development took place during their regime in the state and they are now seeking an explanation from the other parties. All these tricks of the Congress will not work and no matter how many rallies they conduct, the people of Uttar Pradesh are not going to fall in their trap as they know the reality,” he added.

Earlier in the day, the Congress formally launched its campaign for the Uttar Pradesh polls with party supremo Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi flagging off a bus yatra ’27 Saal UP Behaal’ from the party office in 24, Akbar Road here.

The three-day bus yatra was flagged off in the presence of newly-appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar, the party’s chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit and AICC general secretary in-charge for the state Ghulam Nabi Azad. In the road show, the party aims to highlight 27 years of poor governance since it lost power in the 1989 state elections to the now-defunct Janata Dal. The politically crucial Uttar Pradesh will go to polls in early 2017. In the 2012 assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party secured a simple majority in the 403-member assembly, winning 224 seats with the BSP and BJP bagging 80 and 47 seats respectively.